Quebec shaken in 1988 earthquake

The Story

Late in the evening of Nov. 25, 1988, a major earthquake occurs near the Quebec cities of Chicoutimi and Jonquière, with aftershocks felt as far away as Toronto, Halifax and Boston. The 6.2 magnitude quake lasts for two minutes, catching thousands of people off guard and leaving buildings damaged and power out for hundreds of thousands of Quebecers. This CBC Television clip looks at the aftereffects of eastern North America's largest quake in 50 years.

• Rumblings from the quake were felt hundreds of kilometres away, as far west as Toronto and St. Catharines, Ont., as far east as Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley and as far south as Boston, Mass.

• As a seismologist in this clip explains, the aftershocks reverberated far and wide because they traveled along the Canadian Shield.

• In Montreal power was out for more than a day and bricks were shaken loose from several older buildings. A concert hall in Quebec City sustained significant damage and a chapel in La Baie incurred $100,000 in damage.

• In Toronto and some New England cities people reported feeling strong aftershocks, but no structural damage or injuries occurred.

• It's estimated that between 115 and 210 quakes with a magnitude higher than 6 occur each year across the globe. The majority of these take place at sea or in uninhabited areas.

• A Dec. 26, 1989, earthquake in Quebec's far north Ungava Bay region registered a magnitude of 6.3 and was felt in James Bay. No casualties resulted and little damage was reported.